page_title: Dinosaur coloration
section_title: Borealopelta
hierarchical_section_title: Dinosaur coloration / Non-feathered dinosaurs / Borealopelta
caption_attribution_description: Restoration of Borealopelta markmitchelli.
context_page_description: Dinosaur color is one of the unknowns in the field of paleontology as skin pigmentation is nearly always lost during the fossilization process. However, recent studies of feathered dinosaurs have shown that we might be able to infer the color of some species through the use of melanosomes, the color-determining pigments within the feathers.
context_section_description: In a 2017 study examination of melanosomes preserved in a specimen of Borealopelta indicated that the nodosaurid had a reddish-brown coloration in life, with a counter-shaded pattern which it was speculated was used for camouflage. The discovery that Borealopelta possessed camouflage coloration may indicate that it was under threat of predation, despite its large size, and that the armor on its back was primarily used for defensive rather than display purposes.
caption: Restoration of Borealopelta
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